Tawa Baptist

Jephthah and his daughter

Scripture: Judges 11

 

Title: Jephthah & his daughter

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jephthah’s rejection
  • Jephthah’s vow
  • Jephthah’s daughter
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a picture of a piece of rock with a vein of gold running through it

–         It is the image of a precious metal mixed in common granite

–         People can be like this – a mixture of things precious and things base

 

This morning we continue our series on intergenerational relationships in the Bible – that is, relationships between people of different ages or generations

–         Most of the intergenerational relationships we’ve looked at so far have been positive – like Moses & Joshua, Naomi & Ruth and Eli & Samuel

–         Not all intergenerational relationships are so rosy though

–         Some are more a mixture of things precious and things base

 

The focus of today’s message is Jephthah and his daughter, whose name we are not told

–         Theirs is truly an intergenerational story but not in a good way

–         More in the sense of the sins of the father having a negative downstream impact on the next generation

–         Having said that the hard rock of this story is not without its veins of gold

 

Jephthah was one of the Judges (or leaders) of ancient Israel during the time between Joshua and the kings, Saul & David

–         The Israelites had moved into the Promised Land, after their 40 years in the wilderness, but they hadn’t yet subdued their enemies

 

The period of the Judges was a sad time in Israel’s history when the nation was unfaithful to the Lord (Yahweh) by worshipping the Canaanite gods

–         Generation after generation there was a repeating pattern of the people rejecting Yahweh, then being oppressed by their enemies before turning back to Yahweh for help

–         When his people repented the Lord would empower a special Judge to lead Israel against their enemies.

–         Israel would gain the victory and everything would be okay for a while until the people forgot the Lord again and began to conform to the ways of the world around them

–         Sadly with each cycle the behaviour of the next generation got worse

 

With this background we read the book of Judges knowing that the stories it contains are not an ideal to aspire to, but rather a cautionary tale of what happens when people don’t follow the ways of God

 

Jephthah came after Gideon and before Sampson

–         Like most of the Judges of that time, Jephthah was a mixture of things precious and things base

 

We will cover three parts of Jephthah’s story this morning…

–         Jephthah’s rejection, Jephthah’s vow, and Jephthah’s daughter

 

Jephthah’s rejection:

Let’s begin with Jephthah’s rejection – from Judges, chapter 11, verse 1

–         I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version…

 

Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, “You shall not inherit anything in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws collected around Jephthah and went raiding with him.

 

4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so that we may fight with the Ammonites.”

 

7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Are you not the very ones who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house? So why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?” 8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Nevertheless, we have now turned back to you, so that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and become head over us, over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

 

Who can tell me what this guy on the wall is famous for?

–         His name is Dr Thomas Midgley [Wait for people to respond]

–         That’s right – Dr Midgley was a key figure in a team of chemists who put lead in petrol and produced the first chlorofluorocarbons or CFC’s

–         Lead has been taken out of petrol now because its considered too much of a health risk and CFC’s are what caused the hole in the ozone layer

–         So Dr Midgley is famous for at least two innovations which damaged the environment on a large scale

 

There was a saying in ancient Israel

–         “The fathers eat sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge”

–         It basically means that children often have to live with the consequences of their parents’ actions

–         Thomas Midgley died in 1944 before many of us were born but the sour grapes he ate have set our teeth on edge

–         We are still living with the ill-effects of his work – the sins of our fathers

 

Jephthah paid the price for the sins of his father

–         Mr Gilead got a prostitute pregnant and Jephthah was born

–         Although Jephthah was not to blame for his father’s actions his half-brothers would not accept him and forced him to leave home

 

Two weeks ago I showed you a tripod for holding a video camera

–         For the tripod to stand on its own it needs three legs

–         With just one or two legs the tripod will fall over and the camera will be damaged

–         Three things the human soul needs to stand are identity, belonging and purpose

–         Identity, belonging & purpose go together – they give us strength & security – a sense of wholeness and well-being or shalom

 

When Jephthah’s brothers rejected him and drove him away they cut off his identity & belonging in their family so that Jephthah was forced to find these things elsewhere

–         Acceptance is the way to strengthen identity & belonging

–         Had his brothers accepted him I think Jephthah’s story would have had a very different outcome

 

Jephthah was a leader so he soon attracted other outcasts and became a force to be reckoned with

 

When Israel’s enemies threaten, the leaders of Gilead come cap in hand to ask Jephthah for help

–         Their approach is quite self-serving – they don’t really care about Jephthah, they just want to save their own necks

–         Jephthah agrees but only if they accept him as their leader

–         They have offered Jephthah purpose but he wants identity and belonging as well – he is hungry for their acceptance

–         The deal is done

 

In some ways Jephthah’s treatment at the hands of his brothers is a parable (in miniature) of Yahweh’s experience with Israel

–         Through no fault of His own the Lord is rejected by Israel and then, when Israel find themselves in trouble, they repent and ask for help

–         Israel doesn’t really care about Yahweh – they are desperate and are using the Lord for their own ends

–         Although Yahweh doesn’t need Israel’s acceptance (like Jephthah did) the Lord is still in a difficult position

–         He knows Israel is using him and will reject him again but he can’t turn his back on the people he loves

 

Once he has been made leader of the Gileadites, Jephthah approaches the king of the Ammonites (Israel’s enemies) and seeks a diplomatic solution

–         This shows wisdom and good leadership on Jephthah’s part

–         Unfortunately it doesn’t work

–         Israel is in a weaker position so the Ammonites choose war

 

In his exchange with the king of the Ammonites, Jephthah has his finest hour

–         From verse 27 of chapter 11 Jephthah says…

 

27 It is not I who have sinned against you, but you are the one who does me wrong by making war on me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today for the Israelites or for the Ammonites.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message that Jephthah sent him.

 

Although Israel is in a weaker position from a military point of view, Jephthah has the faith to say publicly that the Lord God (Yahweh) is the ultimate judge and he will decide who is right and who gets the land

–         There is real gold in what Jephthah says here but the gold soon runs out and Jephthah’s finest hour is turned to stone

 

Jephthah’s vow:

29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.”

 

Jephthah is making a solemn deal with the Lord

–         If God gives him victory he will kill (as a human sacrifice) the first person who comes out of his house to meet him

 

Steve Hansen has been on the telly lately advertising Arnott’s biscuits

–         The ads imagine Steve Hansen (coach of the All Blacks) riding on a motorbike through a post-apocalyptic wasteland

–         Steve then recreates the events which led to the destruction of the world

–         Essentially it involves one of the All Blacks eating someone else’s biscuits (either their Shapes or their Tim Tams)

–         Then the person who has lost their biscuits over reacts, triggering a series of misunderstandings which lead to nuclear war

–         The moral of the story is, “Never, ever lose your biscuit.”

 

To ‘lose your biscuit’ means to lose your cool or lose your perspective

–         ‘Never lose your biscuit’, therefore, means stay calm

–         Don’t be afraid, don’t stress out, don’t over react because you don’t know what disaster may come from it

 

Unfortunately Jephthah did lose his biscuit

–         In public Jephthah was full of confidence that God, the righteous judge, would give him the victory

–         But in private Jephthah was that scared little boy who had never been properly accepted – who longed to be identified with his father’s family, to be counted as belonging with his brothers

 

Jephthah had been called by men to fight the Ammonites – but God had not spoken to him yet

–         God had spoken to other leaders in the past, either through an angel (as he did with Gideon) or through a prophet (as he did with Barak)

–         But in Jephthah’s case, Yahweh had been strangely silent

 

Certainly the Lord had sent his Spirit on Jephthah enabling him to go through various towns to rally support

–         The presence of God’s Spirit on Jephthah should have given him confidence that he had God’s support – but it didn’t

–         Perhaps Jephthah wasn’t aware of the Spirit’s empowering presence – perhaps he mistakenly thought he was doing this in his own strength

–         Or maybe he was aware of God’s Spirit with him but didn’t make the connection that this implied the Lord’s support

 

Whatever the reason, on the eve of battle Jephthah was not able to stand the awful silence of God and he lost his biscuit, making a rash and unnecessary vow

 

Let me be very clear – Jephthah’s vow had nothing to do with the Spirit of God and everything to do with Jephthah’s own fear & insecurity

–         Jephthah had power from the Holy Spirit to do a particular task but having power from God is not the same thing as having a relationship with Him

–         Jephthah didn’t really have a relationship with the Lord and so he didn’t know God all that well

–         Because he had been rejected by his own family in the past, Jephthah was probably afraid the same thing might happen with God & he over reacted

–         But God is not like Jephthah’s family, the Lord is faithful

 

Jephthah’s vow was wrong on a number of counts

–         Firstly, it involved human sacrifice, which is against God’s Law

–         The Old Testament Law allowed animal sacrifice but human sacrifice was murder – it was absolutely forbidden

–         It stands to reason that Jephthah didn’t know this

 

Secondly, Jephthah’s vow was a faithless attempt to bind God

–         God is free – he won’t be placed under obligation by us, although he may of his own free choice place himself under obligation for us

–         Trying to manipulate the gods by making sacrifices is a pagan thing

–         Yahweh does not operate like that

–         The Lord operates by grace and faith

–         We don’t pay God to do things for us

–         In faith we receive from God, freely, and we respond with thankfulness

 

Jephthah mistakenly thought he could make a deal with God

–         The tragedy is that Jephthah already had the victory

–         He didn’t need to make a deal with God – he simply needed to trust God

 

As I said at the beginning of this message – the stories of the Judges are not an ideal to aspire to, they are cautionary tales, warning us of what to avoid

 

Okay – so far we’ve heard about Jephthah’s rejection as a youth and his rash vow as an adult

–         Now let’s consider the intergenerational impact on Jephthah’s daughter

 

Jephthah’s Daughter:

After winning a crushing victory over his enemies, Jephthah returns home triumphant. We pick up the story from verse 34 of Judges 11…

 

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”

 

36 She said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.” 38 “Go,” he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

 

39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that 40 for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

 

May the Spirit of God help us to know Jesus

 

When Jephthah made his vow to sacrifice the first person who came out of his house to meet him he probably had in mind one of his many servants

–         I don’t think he was expecting to kill his only daughter

–         And yet, as cruel chance would have it, she was the first to meet him when he returned home

 

The text makes it clear that she was his only child and that she was a virgin – which means that with her death Jephthah would have no descendants

–         In that culture, to die without children or descendants was a fate worse than death – this is why Jephthah tears his clothes as a sign of grief

–         In seeking to bind the Lord with a vow Jephthah has bound himself and can see no way out of it

 

We shouldn’t interpret this as Yahweh’s punishment of Jephthah

–         The Lord does not punish children for their parents’ mistakes – although children are sometimes the innocent victims of their parents sins

–         In this case Jephthah actually has the audacity to blame his daughter for his own mistake saying: “You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me.”

–         It was hardly her fault though – she didn’t know about his vow

 

I don’t believe God wanted any person to die or suffer for Jephthah’s vow

–         I say this because God’s Law provided a way out in situations like this

 

In Leviticus chapter 5 we read,

 

If someone makes a careless vow, no matter what it is about, he is guilty as soon as he realises what he has done. When a person is guilty, he must confess the sin, and as a penalty for the sin he must bring to the Lord a female sheep or goat as an offering. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin.

 

Jephthah had made a careless and evil vow

–         Clearly God did not require Jephthah to follow through on his vow and murder his daughter – yet that is exactly what Jephthah did

–         By carrying out his vow, Jephthah made his word more important than God’s word

–         So there was no virtue in Jephthah keeping his vow – he only made things worse

 

Most likely Jephthah was ignorant of the fact that…

–         One, human sacrifice is unacceptable to the Lord

–         And two, if you do make a rash vow, God has provided a way out

–         All Jephthah needed to do was confess that his vow was a mistake and have a priest offer an animal sacrifice in place of his daughter

–         The biggest cost would have been to Jephthah’s pride in admitting he had made a mistake

–         But there is less shame in admitting you are wrong and stopping evil than insisting you are right and fulfilling it

 

Whether he was aware of God’s law or not Jephthah didn’t need to kill her

 

This is what Jesus had to say about oaths and vows…

 

“You have heard that people were told in the past, ‘Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.’ But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, because it is God’s throne; nor by earth, because it is the resting place for his feet; not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.  Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’, be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ be ‘No’. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”    

 

Jephthah’s vow came from the evil one

 

Thinking about our granite rock with a ribbon of gold in it – the response of Jephthah’s daughter is something very precious

–         She is far more gracious and courageous than her father

–         She doesn’t blame him for his mistake, even though he unfairly blames her – nor does she try to negotiate her way out of it

–         Instead she asks for two months to grieve with her friends in the hills

–         This is a wise move by Jephthah’s daughter – it creates a period of grace

–         Who knows what might happen in that grace period

–         Perhaps someone from the community will intervene and persuade her father to change his mind – or maybe God will intervene

 

When Abram was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, an angel of the Lord intervened to stop Abram and God provided a ram as a substitute

–         Also, when Saul made a rash vow which could have cost his son Jonathon his life, the men around Saul intervened to save Jonathon

 

Sadly there is no intervention for Jephthah’s daughter, divine or otherwise

–         No one thinks to inform Jephthah of the way out and God remains silent

–         The two months pass and Jephthah kills his only child

 

Conclusion:

When we put it altogether this is such a tragic story

–         We have Jephthah’s painful rejection as a young person

–         His unnecessary vow – made out of fear and insecurity

–         And then his failure to find redemption for his only child

 

Hebrews 11 mentions Jephthah as one of the heroes of the faith, which is surprising given his faithless vow & ignorance of God’s ways

–         The fact that he makes it in is more a testament to God’s grace than anything else – Jephthah is a cautionary tale, not an ideal to follow

–         I think his daughter is more the hero, for she reminds us of Jesus who accepted his Father’s will in going to the cross for our redemption

 

Jephthah’s daughter also reminds us of the millions of innocent children who are sacrificed in our world today, through child abuse, slavery, war or blind ambition and neglect

–         As John Hamlin puts it…

 

Jephthah sacrificed his daughter because of his own anxieties and ambitions. Today parents who have a driving ambition to achieve security, wealth or fame may, through neglect, unwittingly sacrifice the welfare of their own children. We might also look at nations whose drive for power or wealth or security is so strong that a whole generation of its youth may be lost in war, while the after effects may lead many to drugs or crime. [1]

 

We may not be that different to Jephthah

–         We may be disturbed by the reality that God seems to remain silent in the face of this child abuse

–         Perhaps we should be more concerned with our own silence

–         Humanity is more culpable than God

–         That said, God doesn’t always intervene to save those most vulnerable

–         I don’t have an adequate answer for this – I can’t see the whole picture

–         All I have is my one or two pieces of the puzzle

 

I do believe in resurrection though – that those innocents who are sacrificed (like Jephthah’s daughter) are given abundant life in heaven

–         God is just and merciful – he makes all things new in the end

 

I also believe, there is a redeemer

–         A redeemer for those who have been condemned by the sins of their parents

–         And a redeemer for those who have lost their biscuit and over reacted – causing others to suffer

–         The name of this redeemer is Jesus, God’s own Son

 

 

Let us pray…

 

–         For those children in our world today who are sacrificed or abused in various ways – for God’s healing grace and redemption

–         For those who are parents – that the sins of the parents would not be passed on to their children (this may involve asking God to forgive our own parents)

–         Forgiveness for those times when we ‘lose our biscuit’ or over react causing others grief

 

Out Takes

It is probable that Jephthah was not well acquainted with God’s law

–          He had lived much of his life as an outlaw among pagans, therefore he wasn’t exposed to a lot of teaching about God’s ways

–          But I’m not sure living in ancient Israel would have helped him that much either

–          The time of the Judges was a time when people largely ignored God’s law anyway and did whatever seemed best in their own eyes

 

 

[1] E. John Hamlin, “Judges, At Risk in the Promised Land”, page 124.

Tawa Baptist

Resurrection means transformation

Scripture: John 20:10-18

 

Title: Resurrection means transformation

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus’ resurrection transforms Mary’s life
  • Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God
  • Jesus’ resurrection transforms death
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Three of four weeks ago I went to see the latest version of Beauty and the Beast at the movies with one of my daughters

–         The theatre was packed – in fact there were signs up when we arrived saying the movie had been sold out for the day

–         Fortunately we had booked online so we got a seat

 

In a number of ways Beauty and the Beast is a parable of the Gospel story

–         It’s not an exact match with the gospel but it does speak to some of the deepest needs of the human soul – in particular our need for redemption and transformation. I think that’s why it’s so popular

 

For those who aren’t familiar with the story a selfish prince is turned from a man into a hideous beast and love is the only thing that will break the spell

–         Not superficial romantic love, but real love

–         Deep unselfish love which sees beneath the surface and is committed to the other at great personal cost

 

The hero of the story is a young woman called Belle

–         And the villain is a man called Gaston

–         All the villagers love Gaston but (like the Pharisees in the gospel) he is not as good as he appears – Belle sees through him

 

Long story short, Belle is the Christ figure in the story – she shows the beast what unselfish love looks like

–         The beast learns to love unselfishly too and becomes the recipient of Belle’s love, thus setting him free so he is transformed into a man again

 

The prince turned beast represents humanity under the spell of sin

–         Through the fall we have become beast like

–         Christ is the one who shows us what it is to be fully human

–         Jesus redeems us and transforms us

–         He sets us free from the spell we are under and restores our full humanity

 

Of course we can’t press the analogy too far

–         Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale – it is a made up story

–         While the gospel is a true story – the death and resurrection of Jesus actually happened in history

 

Today is Easter Sunday

–         Easter Sunday is about the resurrection of Jesus

–         The resurrection is the most important event in all of human history

–         The resurrection changes everything

–         It changes our lives now, it changes our relationship with God forever and it even changes death

 

Earlier in the service we heard a reading from John chapter 20, verses 1-9

–         This morning’s message is based on the verses which follow

–         From John 20:10-18 we read…

 

10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Jesus’ resurrection transforms Mary’s life:

When I was about 4 or 5 years old I got lost in Chartwell Square

–         Chartwell Square was the latest shopping mall complex near where we used to live in Hamilton

–         Somehow I got separated from my Mum and no one could tell me where she was

–         I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but for the first time in my life I had a good idea

–         It occurred to me that if I went back to our car then eventually I would find mum because at some point she would return to the car also

–         This was back in the days when people didn’t lock their vehicles so I could get inside without a key

–         There I was waiting inside our burnt orange Mark 1 Ford Escort

–         Time seemed to go incredibly slowly and I became upset wondering if I would ever see my family again

 

Looking back, sitting in that empty car feeling lost, was a bit like being in a tomb – it was like facing the end of something

–         My mum did eventually turn up again though and we were reunited

 

Our Bible reading this morning focuses on Mary Magdalene and her reunion with Jesus

–         So who is Mary Magdalene?

–         Well, she was a different Mary to Jesus’ mother

 

‘Magdalene’ is probably not Mary’s surname

–         Rather it is a reference to the village she comes from called ‘Magdala’

 

Luke 8 tells us Mary Magdalene was the woman whom Jesus delivered from seven demons

–         We don’t feel comfortable talking about demons these days do we

–         It sounds superstitious or unscientific – backward even

–         They say the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he doesn’t exist

–         But evil is still present in the world, even if it goes by a different name

 

Having a demon in you is like being ruled by a fascist dictator

–         You are not in control, you are not free – it is torment

–         Life is reduced to a hellish existence and one feels less than human

–         One longs for oblivion – to simply not exist, to go to sleep without dreaming and never wake up

–         In fact the idea of eternal life becomes a nightmare

–         You start to think – if this is what life is then who wants to live forever?

God can keep His heaven

 

Other people don’t necessarily understand what you are suffering because it’s going on inside you – it’s invisible, they can’t see it

–         If you have a physical illness then people usually have sympathy for you

–         They send you cards and flowers – they might make you meals or put you on the prayer chain or maybe even start a ‘give a little’ page for you

–         But if you have a demon, people generally avoid you

–         You become isolated and feel lonely in a crowd

 

Mary didn’t just have one demon – she had seven – so there was no reprieve for her, no rest, no Sabbath

–         Then one day Jesus sees her suffering and has compassion on her

–         He gets it – he understands her torment and he sees her (the real her)

–         More than just understanding her though he actually has the power to send the demons packing – and that’s what he does

 

Jesus’ redeems her soul – he sets Mary free

–         Now, instead of 7 evil dictators bossing her around and making her life a misery, she has one Lord – his name is Jesus and he is good

–         Jesus isn’t taking anything from her – he isn’t demanding any sort of repayment – she is free and chooses to use her freedom to serve him

 

Luke 8 tells us that Mary Magdalene was one of the women who helped to support Jesus and his disciples out of her own means

–         Mary followed Jesus, partly out of gratitude for what he had done for her, but also because Jesus gave her life meaning and purpose again

–         Not only that, but with Jesus came a community to belong to – other people who had been through similar experiences of suffering and redemption

 

John 19 tells us that Mary had been at the cross when Jesus died

–         This shows she had courage and was devoted to Jesus in a spirit of unselfish loyal love

–         Now, in John 20, we find Mary again, on Sunday morning at the tomb, ready to finish the job of caring for Jesus’ body in death

 

Peter and the other disciple return home but Mary stands weeping outside the tomb – This is bit like returning to the car when you are lost – it was Mary’s best chance of finding Jesus

–         Mary sits with her grief – she doesn’t rush away

–         She gives her soul time to catch up with what’s happening

–         You see, in losing Jesus Mary hasn’t just lost a good friend (as difficult as that is) – she has also lost the meaning and purpose of her life

–         For the last 2 or 3 years Mary’s whole life had revolved around Jesus

–         With Jesus she had a valued role, an important job to do

–         Now with Jesus gone there was this huge hole in her life

–         What was she supposed to do, where did she fit, what was her role now?

 

We can understand Mary’s loss in some ways

–         Maybe you’ve had the experience of losing a job or going into retirement and at the same time feeling like you’ve lost your identity a little bit too

–         Or when the kids leave home and you are no longer needed to take care of them – you find yourself asking, ‘what’s my role now?’

–         Or shifting towns and losing your networks of support and belonging – where do I fit?

 

Perhaps Mary was also afraid of the demons coming back now that Jesus had gone

 

When Mary looks into the tomb she sees two angels in white sitting where Jesus had been lying

–         The angels say to Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

–         Their question suggests that sorrow is out of place

–         Mary explains: They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him

–         Mary’s concern appears to be that Jesus’ enemies have stolen his body to show further disrespect to him in death

–         However, the presence of angels is a clue that it is not robbers who have removed the body, rather what has happened stems from God’s power [1]

 

Mary turns around to see Jesus standing behind her (in the garden – outside the tomb) but Mary doesn’t recognise him – she thinks he is the gardener

–         Mary is still focused on the tomb

–         The photocopier of her mind is jammed with grief – she can’t get past Jesus’ death

 

Jesus repeats the angel’s question, “Woman, why are you weeping?” and then adds his own question, “Who are you looking for?”

–         But Mary doesn’t quite get it yet – her soul needs more time to catch up

–         So Jesus says her name, ‘Mary’

–         Understanding spiritual reality is a gift from God – we need God’s help

–         In saying her name Jesus is opening Mary’s mind to understand the reality of his resurrection

–         All at once Mary gets it and responds in Hebrew, their special language

–         (Speaking Hebrew like this shows the tenderness and closeness between them both)

 

Resurrection means transformation

–         It isn’t just that Jesus has been transformed though

–         Mary too has been transformed

 

You see, what we don’t pick up from reading the English translation is that Jesus spoke Mary’s name in Hebrew – everywhere else it is written in Greek

–         ‘Mary’, in Hebrew, is Miriam

–         Miriam was of course Moses’ older sister

–         Mary Magdalene, who everyone avoided and feared because of her 7 demons, becomes the new Miriam to the new Moses

–         Mary isn’t just redeemed – she is also transformed

 

Just as Miriam took care of her brother Moses’ needs, so too Mary had taken care of Jesus’ needs

–         Just as Miriam oversaw the baby Moses as he journeyed down the Nile, so too Mary had overseen Jesus’ journey from the cross to the tomb [2]

 

In Jewish society 2000 years ago women were not trusted as legal witnesses

–         And yet Jesus sows the seeds of social transformation by giving Mary the honour of being the first to bear witness to his resurrection

 

The Old Testament Miriam became a prophet bearing a message to Israel

–         Now the New Testament Miriam (Mary Magdalene) carries the most important prophetic message ever: Jesus is risen

 

It’s quite true what Jesus said: the first shall be last and the last shall be first

–         Mary had been last and now she was first

–         First to discover the empty tomb

–         First to see the risen Jesus

–         And first to tell the good news of Jesus’ resurrection

 

Resurrection means transformation

–         Jesus’ resurrection transformed Mary’s life

–         And Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God too

 

Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God:  

Upon recognising Jesus, Mary must have instinctively embraced him, for Jesus says: “Do not hold onto me because I have not ascended to the Father…”

 

These words of Jesus are easy to misunderstand

–         It’s not that Jesus doesn’t want to be touched by Mary

–         He’s not afraid of being contaminated before going back up to heaven

–         Rather it’s like Jesus is saying: ‘It’s okay Mary, you can let go of me now. There’s no need to keep hanging on – I’m not about to disappear up to heaven just yet. I plan to stick around a bit longer before I ascend to my Father – so you will get to see me again before I depart.’ [3]

–         Jesus’ words are a reassurance to Mary, a comfort (not a rebuke)

 

At the same time Jesus is also indicating that the relationship will need to change, for while Jesus isn’t ascending to the Father immediately he was still planning to return to heaven

–         Mary and the other disciples should not assume that Jesus’ resurrection means everything will go back to the way it was before

–         Jesus’ presence with his followers was about change

 

“Mary cannot ‘hold on’ to the way Jesus has lived and worked among them but must instead rethink the nature of intimacy with Jesus. It will be a new intimacy, a spiritual intimacy, realised in the coming of the Holy Spirit”  [4]

–         In other words, once Jesus does make his final ascension his presence on earth will be mediated through the Holy Spirit rather than a physical body

 

In verse 17 Jesus says to Mary:

–         Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’

 

Jesus’ brothers in this context refers to his disciples

–         The implication seems to be that Jesus’ resurrection transforms the very nature of our relationship with him and with God

–         Jesus says, God is ‘my Father and your Father’ – we have the same Father so now we are family

–         Jesus is the natural born Son of God and we (the followers of Jesus) are God’s adopted sons and daughters

 

Resurrection means transformation

–         Jesus’ resurrection transformed Mary’s life

–         Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God

–         And Jesus’ resurrection even transforms death

 

Jesus’ resurrection transforms death:

Let me tell you a story…

 

Once there was a rich young man

–         His father was a millionaire and the young man was in line to inherit his father’s fortune

–         Most people think that children who grow up rich don’t know the value of money because they’ve never had to work a day in their life

–         That’s not true – those who grow up with a trust fund know the value of money better than most and it generally causes them to despise it, if not themselves

 

This young man lost his mother when he was 8 years old

–         She died of a rare illness and despite many costly treatments there was nothing his father or the doctors could do for her

–         It was a painful loss at the time but it was also the making of him

–         When you have lost something money can’t replace it has a way of teaching you what really matters in life

 

Later, when he was in his 20’s, he met a girl and fell in love with her

–         They were married and for a short while he thought their lives were bliss

–         But it turned out she was more in love with his bank account than she was with him and she left for another man

–         The betrayal broke his heart but then ‘a heart that is broken is a heart that is open’ [5]

 

The young man continued working in one of his father’s companies but it didn’t matter how many hours he put in or how many good decisions he made or how good his golfing handicap was he still felt both lost and trapped at the same time

–         In other people’s eyes he would always be the boss’ son who had everything handed to him on a plate

–         His wealth & privilege was a cruel dictator – it isolated him

–         He felt alone in a crowd

–         People don’t have too much sympathy for you when you are rich

 

One day he received a letter from a child he had been sponsoring through World Vision

–         The child lived in an orphanage and was inviting him to come and visit

–         Sick of his job the young man got his vaccinations and boarded the plane for Uganda

 

He knew Africa would be different to what he was used to but nothing could have prepared him for the contrast

–         It was the smell more than anything that hit him

 

In a strange way though the young man felt more at home in the orphanage with his sponsor child than he did in his father’s board room or on the golf course

–         Over there no one really knew him so he was free to be himself without all the prejudice that went with being a millionaire’s son

–         He didn’t know poverty and hunger like they did

–         Nor did he know what it was like to be a child soldier

–         But he did understand what it was like to lose that which money can’t replace – he knew betrayal and loneliness well enough too

–         In a beautifully ironic way the things he had suffered in life became a nursery for compassion

 

The visit was meant to be for just a few days but the young man stayed on and helped out around the place

–         Turns out there were things his money was useful for

–         For the first time in a long time his life made sense

–         He felt like he had meaning and purpose and he felt like he belonged

–         By letting him in the young man’s sponsor child had also set him free

–         This was his redemption

 

The young man continued working in the orphanage as a volunteer for nearly two years and was happy until one day one of the children, whom he felt particularly close to, became ill and died

–         Unlike his mother though it wasn’t a rare disease – it was something that could have been easily prevented with a better health service

 

The young man was deeply distraught – he didn’t know if he could continue working at the orphanage

–         In fact he couldn’t understand why the others seemed to bounce back so easily – didn’t they know that death was the end?

–         They must have known – these kids had seen more death than most people and yet, somehow, they managed to keep their hope

–         But the photocopier of his mind was jammed with grief – he couldn’t get past the child’s death

 

After several weeks one of the nuns, who worked with him, noticed his thousand yard stare wasn’t going away and she sat with him for a while

–         She didn’t say anything at first – just sat there and listened in silence

–         Then she told him about the story of Jesus’ resurrection

–         The young man had heard the Easter story before but when she spoke, it was like he was actually hearing it properly for the first time

–         The lights went on and he finally understood – finally believed

–         Jesus’ resurrection transformed him

–         The resurrection changes everything

–         Because of the resurrection death is not the end – it is a new beginning

–         Jesus’ resurrection is the only currency that can restore those things money can’t replace

 

Conclusion:

Let us pray…

–         Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, your resurrection changes everything

–         Your resurrection has the power to transform our lives in the here & now, to make life worth living

–         Your resurrection also has the power to transform our relationship with God – making us His sons and daughters

–         And it has the power to transform death, from an end to a new beginning

–         Fill us with your Spirit we pray Jesus, so that we may live in the light and energy of your resurrection life. Amen.

[1] Gary Burge, NIVAC John, Page 555

[2] Ibid, page 574

[3] This is my paraphrase of Leon Morris’ thought in the NICNT on John, page 742

[4] Gary Burge, NIVAC on John, page 567

[5] A line from a U2 song, by Bono

Tawa Baptist

Forgiven

Scripture: Psalm 130

 

Title: Forgiven

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Guilt
  • Forgiveness
  • Waiting
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

When I was a kid, for special occasions like birthdays, we would go to Pizza Hutt for dinner

–         This was in the days when Pizza Hutt had an actual restaurant you could sit down in – It seems to be all takeaways now

–         Anyway one of the exciting things about Pizza Hutt, for kids, was the little red pencils and activity sheets they gave you as you waited for your pizza to come to the table

–         On these activity sheets they usually had a maze like this one…

 

The idea was to trace your pencil through the maze, in one side and out the other, without going down a dead end

–         It doesn’t sound like much fun when I explain it now (in an age of iPads) but when you are young almost everything is full of wonder

 

This morning we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents

–         These songs were probably sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their way to the temple in Jerusalem

–         They are songs about drawing nearer to God

–         Sometimes drawing closer to God can feel like trying to find your way through a maze – you don’t always know if you’ve taken the right turn and you sometimes get lost and come up against a dead end

 

Our focus today is psalm 130

–         In this song the psalmist describes a way out of the maze when you are lost – It is the way of forgiveness & waiting in hope

–         From the New Revised Standard Version, we read…

 

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 2     Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive     to the voice of my supplications!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,     Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with you,     so that you may be revered.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,     and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord     more than those who watch for the morning,     more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!     For with the Lord there is steadfast love,     and with him is great power to redeem. 8 It is he who will redeem Israel     from all its iniquities.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

Psalm 130 shows us a way out of the maze

–         It takes us from the prison of guilt to the freedom of redemption

–         The way out is characterised by forgiveness and waiting in hope

–         Let’s begin by considering the depths of guilt

 

Guilt:

Tell me, what happens as you go down deeper and deeper under water? [Wait]

 

That’s right, it gets darker and darker

–         Not only that but the pressure on you gets heavier and heavier

–         We can’t breathe under water so the deeper we go the more we feel trapped and therefore the more panicky (or fearful) we become

 

In verse 1 the psalmist says…

–         1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.

 

The ‘depths’ are a metaphor – they are a place of great pressure and fear, where it is dark and it feels like you can’t breathe and everything is closing in on you

–         It is a place of profound despair and weakness

–         A place where many people might lose hope because they can’t see a way out – but not the psalmist, he sees a way

–         Even though no one can hear you under water (in the depths) the psalmist still cries out to the Lord saying, ‘Hear my voice’

–         It may seem like a long shot but what’s he got to lose

 

‘Supplications’ is a word which here means to ‘beg humbly’

–         The psalmist is begging God for mercy from a position of vulnerability and weakness

 

It’s not until verse 3 though that we learn what is causing all this distress

–         3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

 

‘Iniquities’ is another word for ‘sins’ – in particular sins of injustice

–         If God were to keep a record of all our mistakes, all our moral failures, then we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on

–         This tells us it is guilt which is weighing the psalmist down in the depths

–         Verse 3 also tells us everyone is guilty of iniquity – no one is innocent

–         So we are all in the same sinking boat

 

Now it needs to be said that guilt is a slippery critter

–         Sometimes we don’t feel guilty when we should – it’s like we have this blind spot and can’t see how our actions have been unfair to others

 

Other times though we can misplace our guilt, which is when we feel guilty about the wrong things

–         For example we might feel guilty because we ate a bar of chocolate or we didn’t go to the gym

–         These things are not really ‘iniquities’ – they are not moral issues of injustice and we don’t need to feel bad about them

–         (Unless of course the chocolate isn’t fair trade chocolate)

 

Misplaced guilt, however, can be more serious than not going to the gym

–         Like when someone survives a car crash while others in the car die and the survivor feels guilty even though they did nothing to cause the crash

–         Or when kids feel guilty for their parents’ divorce even though it’s not their fault and they were powerless in the situation

–         Surviving a car crash is not a sin

–         Nor is being the child of divorced parents

–         There’s no reason to feel guilty about that

 

The author of psalm 130 is not blind to the way his actions have affected others

–         Nor is his guilt misplaced

–         His guilt is appropriate in the face of his moral failure

–         We are not told specifically what the psalmist is feeling guilty about

–         But we do know he is a pilgrim who is drawing closer to God

–         And when we draw closer to God it is inevitable that our conscience will be pricked

 

If you are sitting in a room in the dark or the half-light then you don’t tend to notice the dirt and the grime that has accumulated on the ledges and windows

–         You probably don’t see the cobwebs in the corners or the bits of broken biscuit trampled into the carpet

–         But when someone turns the light on, suddenly all the marks show up

 

It seems to be a principle that as we draw nearer to God we become more aware of our guilt

–         This is because God is a moral being, he is supremely & thoroughly good

–         The Lord is light and as we draw closer to the light all our dirt (all our iniquity) is exposed and we realise we don’t have an excuse

 

The inconvenient truth of the gospel is that before we can feel good we need to feel bad – before we can enjoy God we must grow sick of ourselves

 

Guilt is the thirst (parched and desperate) that draws us to drink from the well of life

–         Guilt is the coldness (long and bitter) that draws us to warm ourselves by the embers of love

–         Guilt is the pain (stabbing and relentless) that draws us to Christ the doctor of our souls

–         Guilt is the boil (sensitive and fierce) that longs for the lance of forgiveness to release the infection

 

Forgiveness:

When I was at Baptist College preparing for ministry my mentor, Walter Lang, gave me his complete set of the Journals of John Wesley – all 8 volumes

–         I can’t say I’ve read them all but let me read to you a small portion

–         In May 1738 John Wesley writes…

 

In this vile, abject state of bondage to sin, I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering. Before, I had willingly served sin: now it was unwillingly; still I served it. I fell, and rose, and fell again…

 

During this whole struggle between nature and grace, which had now continued above ten years, I had many remarkable returns to prayer, especially when I was in trouble; …But I was still ‘under the law’, not ‘under grace’; for I was only striving with, not freed from, sin. [1]  

 

Now what you need to understand is that John Wesley was not a bad person by society’s standards

–         He wasn’t a slave trader or a drug dealer or anything like that

–         He was a minister of the church, a preacher and a missionary

–         By most people’s standards he was a very virtuous man

–         And yet he was struggling in the depths

–         He still wrestled with sin and guilt having not felt touched by forgiveness

 

John Wesley wrote that this is the state [that] most who are called Christians are content to live and die in

–         It is possible to come to church and call yourself a Christian and not feel truly forgiven

–         We might know in our head that we are forgiven but do we know it deep down in our soul

 

Some people give up on the Christian faith because it makes them feel stink about themselves most of the time and they don’t want to feel bad anymore

–         That is such a tragedy

–         I don’t believe God wants us to feel guilty any longer than we have to

–         Guilt may be necessary for a time but it’s not meant to be the norm

–         Just like feeling thirsty or cold or in pain should not be the norm

 

John Wesley persevered with his guilt for more than 10 years

–         Perhaps you have suffered longer

 

On the morning of Wednesday the 24th May 1738, John Wesley opened his Bible on the words: “Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God”

–         That afternoon he was asked to go to St Paul’s (a church)

–         The hymn they were singing was psalm 130

–         Out of the deep have I called unto Thee O Lord: Lord hear my voice

 

In the evening of that same day John Wesley writes…

–         I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.

–         About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. [2]   

 

The Lord is not standing over us waiting for us to make a mistake

–         He is standing beside us waiting to forgive

–         In verse 4 the psalmist says…

 

4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

 

Walter Brueggemann makes the observation here that…

–         Forgiveness is the first fact of a new life

–         From forgiveness everything else flows [3]

–         The forgiveness is not earned, not reasoned or explained and not negotiated – it is simply believed in, trusted

 

Forgiveness comes before reverence (or fear) of God

–         It is because the psalmist knows the Lord has the power to forgive that he is able to show God the proper respect of obedience

–         Grace is the horse which pulls the cart of obedience

 

(It’s interesting that the psalmist doesn’t talk about God’s punishment being what inspires fear & reverence – it is God’s forgiveness that causes us to fear him.)

 

Psalm 130 shows how the Lord’s forgiveness provides a way out of the prison of guilt to the freedom of redemption

–         This sounds straight forward enough but on closer inspection we find there’s quite a bit of waiting in between our guilt and our redemption

 

Waiting:

In verses 5-6 the psalmist uses the image of a watchmen standing guard on the walls through the night – waiting for the morning…

 

What we notice here is that waiting and hoping are virtually the same thing

–         To wait for the Lord is to place your hope (or your trust) in his promises (in his word)

 

Not only is the waiting eager but the hope is certain

–         It may feel like a long wait but the morning is certain to come

–         So too the Lord’s forgiveness & redemption are certain to come for those who wait in faith

 

I said earlier that guilt is like a boil (like an abscess)

–         And I compared forgiveness to a lance (or a needle) that pierces the boil of guilt allowing the infection to drain out (what a lovely image for you)

 

When I was preparing the sermon I wondered whether I should make it the antibiotics of forgiveness for the boil of guilt

–         After all, antibiotics seem like a more gentle approach to treating an abscess – the image of lancing a boil evokes anticipation of pain

–         But I decided the lance was a better metaphor of forgiveness because forgiveness is not always pain free

–         What’s more forgiveness is about releasing the infection of sin

–         And antibiotics don’t convey the same image of release

 

The other reason I stuck with the lance of forgiveness is that antibiotics on their own aren’t usually enough for serious infections

–         Anyone who has had a decent boil knows it has to be drained eventually

–         But before it is drained there is a period of waiting for the boil to come to a head

–         To lance the boil before it is ready doesn’t achieve much – in fact it probably delays the healing process, if anything

 

Now some people may be thinking, ‘Why does God make us wait for forgiveness and redemption from our sins?’

–         Poor old John Wesley struggled for over 10 years

–         While the people of Israel had to wait 40 years in the wilderness until they were properly released to enter the Promised Land

–         Well, the boil of guilt must be allowed time to come to a head before God can release the puss of sin

–         Imparting the peace of forgiveness before someone is ready is like trying to lance a boil before it is ready – it delays the process

 

In thinking of this point I’m reminded of a scene from the 1986 movie The Mission

–         ­The Mission tells the story of some Jesuit priests who travel deep into the Amazon jungle to bring the gospel to the Indians living there

–         One of the priests used to be a human trafficker – he hunted the Indians and sold them as slaves

–         For a long time this reformed slave trader couldn’t accept forgiveness

 

As part of his penance he dragged his armour through the jungle to where the Indians lived

–         At one point one of the Jesuit brothers tried to cut him free from his burden but the reformed slaver just gathered it up again and carried on

–         It was like he was carrying his guilt and he wasn’t ready to let it go

–         The boil hadn’t come to a head

 

Eventually, when he finally did reach the Indian tribe their chief cut him free

–         That was the sign he needed to know that God had forgiven him

–         Once he felt forgiven then he could serve the people

 

The other thing to say about waiting in hope is that it’s actually good for us

–         When we wait for something we tend to value it more

–         If you give a diamond ring to a 3 year old they are not likely to take care of it – they will probably lose it

–         But if you wait until they are 33 then they will look after it

 

God makes us wait, not because he needs time but because we need time

–         By the same token, when the time for forgiveness arrives we shouldn’t put it off

 

Examining your guilt is a bit like looking in the mirror – you don’t want to spend too long doing it

 

What we find with the author of psalm 130 is that his focus changes

–         He becomes less introspective and more outward looking as the psalm progresses

–         In the first six verses the psalmist is focused on himself in relation to God: ‘I cry to you, hear my voice, I wait, I hope…’

–         (This is what guilt does – it narrows our peripheral vision)

–         But in the last two verses the psalmist stops his navel gazing and thinks about the wider community of God

 

In verses 7-8 he calls Israel to hope in the Lord because of God’s great power to redeem

 

To redeem is to set free, to release, to liberate and so it’s very close to forgiveness in its meaning

–         Guilt makes us a prisoner in our own soul

–         Forgiveness releases us to think outside of ourselves

–         We need to be prepared to seek forgiveness while we can and wait in hope for God to bring his redemption when the time is right

 

The point we shouldn’t miss is there’s often a gap (a time of waiting) between being forgiven and realising our full redemption

–         Just like there is a time of waiting between when the boil is lanced and drained and when the wound finally heals over

–         Or to use a different analogy: the stain of guilt may be removed from clothes of our soul by the washing of forgiveness but we still have to wait for the clothes to dry before we can wear them

 

Conclusion:

There are many stories of forgiveness in the gospel

–         But the story which (I think) fits best with psalm 130 is Jesus’ forgiveness of the criminal on the cross

 

Jesus was crucified between two criminals

–         The first criminal was not in touch with his own guilt

–         He didn’t feel bad about what he had done

–         He seemed to be blind (or unfeeling) when it came to the impact his actions had on others

–         He gave Jesus a hard time saying: Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us.

–         Jesus ignored this first criminal – he said nothing to him

 

The second criminal was in touch with his own guilt

–         He rebukes the first criminal saying: Don’t you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.

 

The second criminal does feel bad for what he has done – and what’s more he feels bad for Jesus who hasn’t done anything to deserve crucifixion

 

What I find particularly interesting is way the second criminal begins by saying:

–         Don’t you fear God?

–         To fear God is to have deep respect and reverence for him

–         This connects with verse 4 of psalm 130 where the psalmist says…

–         But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered [or feared]

–         We hold God in deep reverence and respect because he has the power to forgive

 

It’s like the second criminal is saying to the first:

–         What are you doing?! You are guilty and without excuse.

–         You need forgiveness and God is the only one with the power to forgive.

–         This man Jesus, who you are insulting, is God’s representative

–         Why would you insult the one man who could help you get forgiveness from God

–         Don’t you respect God – don’t you believe God has the power to forgive?

 

Clearly the second criminal did believe that God could forgive him and take away his guilt

–         What’s more he also believed Jesus was the key to God’s forgiveness

–         So he says: Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King

–         The man is in the depths and he is begging Jesus for mercy from a position of vulnerability and weakness

 

And the Lord replies: I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me

–         Jesus is promising the man redemption

–         The implication here is that the man’s sins are forgiven

–         Jesus is not standing over the man waiting for him to make a mistake

–         He is hanging beside the man waiting to forgive

–         All the man has to do is wait in hope and keep trusting in Jesus’ promise of paradise

–         What we notice is there’s a gap – a time of painful waiting – between being forgiven and being fully redeemed

 

In a few minutes we will share communion together

–         Communion is a time to remember that with Jesus there is forgiveness

–         The musicians will come now to lead us in song as we prepare our hearts to receive God’s grace

[1] The Journal of John Wesley, Volume One, pages 471.

[2] Ibid, pages 475-476.

[3] Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, page 105.